The Sassoon Files
“The desiccated body is covered in tattoos that at one time must have been impressive, but now look like a pack of deflated monkeys eating shriveled bananas. The eyes of the corpse have filled with muddled clouds, and the taunt tissue in the face has frozen into a permanent grimace.”
Intrigue and Horror in the Pearl of the Orient! The Sassoon Files is a set of scenarios and campaign resources for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition set in historical 1920s Shanghai; an international city of intrigue, espionage, style and violence. This is the first of our “Asian Horror” series.
Reviews
I say “fortunately” because The Sassoon Files is a gritty, evocative take on a setting we have seen before in Cthulhu gaming, but never in such detail or with such awareness. What is immediately clear here is that the writing team knows their subject matter intimately; in fact the project began as campaigns played by gamers living in the People’s Republic of China. This insider’s take on the setting is one of the book’s strongest features.
In case you’re worried that play-ability and fun get swamped by this weight of historical detail, don’t be. The four scenarios are very well written, well geared to the Chinese context, and suitably nasty in parts.
If you want to run a one-shot Cthulhu game in a setting as far away from Massachusetts as possible, this will be a good choice of product. (full review link)
Two more little aspects make this product stick out from the crowd; Lore Sheets and Campaign Drivers. The Lore Sheets are handouts that can be given to the players for background information and details on the setting. But they also come with mechanical advantages that can be used during play. A fun little addition. While the game revolves around Sassoon and his connection to the investigators, the campaign drivers give some alternative options in that respect. They give goals and a point of view from some of the other factions in the city.
About the Sassoon Files
This campaign book is modular in design; each of the 4 scenarios included can stand on its own, but each scenario is connected by the thread of common location, time, characters, threats and themes. Play the scenarios contained in this book as you see fit, but they can stand together as the basis of an entire campaign set in the Shanghai of the 20’s.
Included in this book is a brief description of the publicly known history of Shanghai and some of the primary factions that competed for influence control: the Communists and Nationalists who played a game of deadly cat and mouse; the Jewish tycoon who provided succor to refugees; the Triad societies (and other gangsters) who competed to provide vice for the cities wealthy residents; the Japanese who were moving closer invasion.
And then there is the not-publicly known history… the untold Mythos story of forces from beyond our three mundane dimensions, and the local factions which conspire to exploit that which could not be fully comprehended.
Sun Yat-sen passed in March of 1925. China’s merchant-class fled the death of another dynasty for an uncertain future. America’s thrill-seekers fled Prohibition for better times. Shanghai offered an illusory refuge and the promise of big business. The Huang Pu River was dredged to accommodate steam powered luxury liners and military vessels, alike. The ports of Shanghai were arteries clogged with commerce. Transport ships carried raw materials and opium into the city, and finished goods and wealth out of the city.
At Shanghai’s Great World Amusement Park, across from the horse tracks, prostitutes sought out high-rollers, and politicians made deals with gangsters. One-armed bandits cranked and whirled, occasionally vomiting just enough coin to keep players hooked. Ghosts, Spiders and Phantoms lined up outside the casino in a makeshift parking lot.
This is Shanghai; Victor Sassoon’s Shanghai. Victor Sassoon, a preeminent bon vivant, has found himself trading correspondence with Doctor Henry Armitage. They share a common goal and common modus operandi. Victor fights to keep his empire safe, but he also fights for a Shanghai free from Mythos influence. Victor has gathered around him professors, detectives, debunkers, muscles, guns, criminals and other problem solvers to mount a defense against a rising tide. Victor is your hook.
Scenarios
Strange Gates, Hidden Demons – 奇門遁甲. 1925, investigators looking into an alleged cholera outbreak follow a trail of unusual corpses to a local opium den.
[SECOND EDITION] When in Rome, Do as the Romans – 入乡随俗. A Luxury steamship arrives in Shanghai; passengers include well-funded foreign investigators on the trail of Nyarlathotep and armed with Mythos magic.
[SECOND EDITION] Muddy the Water to Catch the Fish – 渾水摸魚. Investigators are called upon to investigate a strange fish-man carcass found on the banks of the Bund. The investigation leads them to Yu Garden and a Deep One slaughterhouse operated by monstrous Japanese military police.
[SECOND EDITION] In the Same Boat – 同舟共济. A government-sponsored archaeological team embarks on a journey up the Yangtze River to Nanjing, utilizing a gunboat. From there, they trek to a Daoist temple on Maoshan, where they discover a demonic water spirit in Chinese folklore.
[SECOND EDITION] Ride a Crane West – 驾鹤西去. Investigators journey to the frontier town where they encounter “Bird Eaters” reveling in the Mongolian Naadam Festival. Daytime events feature wrestling bouts and archery contests, while nighttime festivities entail consuming space mead and summoning Byakhee.
There is this One Girl – 有一个姑娘. Sassoon’s agents investigate a scam at the horse track. The trail ends with a heartbroken triad gangster and the Bloated Woman.
Curse of the Peacock’s Eye. Investigators on the trail of an evil sorcerer discover the fabled lost city of golden sands and stumble upon the Peacock’s Eye – a field of flowering black lotus plants, their pollen inducing a potent psychedelic response enabling time travel.
